Thompson introduces bipartisan Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation Act

U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) on Aug. 26 signed on as the lead original cosponsor of a bipartisan bill to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries who need intensive, multidisciplinary rehabilitation may receive the right therapies in the right setting.

The purpose of the Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation Therapy Act of 2022, H.R. 8746, which Rep. Thompson introduced with sponsor U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), is to restore reliance on the professional judgment of the treating physician, in consultation with the rehabilitation team, when determining whether a Medicare patient meets the intensity of therapy requirement of an inpatient rehabilitation hospital or unit for that patient to receive the appropriate mix of medically necessary, rehab services in that setting, according to the text of the bill. 

If enacted, H.R. 8746 would retain the current requirement that the patient must need at admission physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology services, or orthotic and prosthetic services but permits the patient’s physician to modify the intensive rehabilitation therapy program after admission to include additional necessary therapy modalities, the text says.

“The effectiveness of care involves the proper mix, frequency and intensity of medically necessary physician prescribed therapy,” said Rep. Thompson, a former rehabilitation services manager and Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. “I am pleased to reintroduce bipartisan legislation that will ensure Medicare empowers physicians to exercise their medical judgment and therapy professionals to deliver the best possible care for patients recovering from accidents or illness.”

Under the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), Medicare beneficiaries who need inpatient rehab therapy are not required to meet certain requirements to have their time in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital covered by Medicare, according to information provided by Rep. Thompson’s staff, but once the PHE waiver ends, Medicare will again start imposing restrictions on the types of therapies that count toward a person’s intensity of therapy requirement. H.R. 8746 would expand the types of therapy that count toward this requirement.

“The current intensity of therapy requirement unfairly limits the care that seniors and people with disabilities are able to access,” Rep. Courtney said. “This bill is a small but important change to Medicare to ensure that when a physician believes a patient needs a certain type of treatment, that patient can get it.”

Numerous organizations endorsed the measure, including the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association, the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, the Brain Injury Association of America, and the United Spinal Association, among others.